[SBB] lowland Black Swift 6/12/06

[Mike Rogers <[[email protected]]>]

All,

While watching my son's baseball game at Fair Oaks Park in Sunnyvale 
yesterday 6/12/06, I saw a foraging BLACK SWIFT slowly moving north at 
7:24pm. The bird came from the southeast, low over the east edge of the 
park, chased a few bugs, and then headed off to the northeast. The 
flight style of this large all-dark swift was very different from that 
of our other swifts, consisting of slower, unhurried wing beats, almost 
fluttering as it fanned its wings and tail to turn and catch its prey. 
The wings seemed proportionately longer with a more prominent "wrist" 
than those of a White-throated Swift, although this is perhaps a result 
of the proportionately shorter, more squared off tail.

There must be some good bugs over this park because there are frequently 
foraging swallows around, including a VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW there at 
6:30pm on 6/5/06, which seems unlikely to be a local breeding bird at 
this location (although who knows, both this species and Tree Swallow 
seem to be occurring in summer, and even breeding, at surprising lowland 
locations lately).

We have previous records of lowland migrating Black Swifts when the 
weather is poor up along the ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains, usually 
in the early morning or late evening. Yesterday's heavy fog at the 
ridge, and overcast throughout the area, may have played a role in this 
bird's appearance. Today started out similarly, with even a few 
raindrops on my way in to work this morning, so perhaps it might pay off 
to keep an eye skywards this evening, particularly in areas where swifts 
and swallows are foraging.

Mike Rogers


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